Oct. 20, 2021
S3E8 (Sydney)
Gil and Eric were excited to be joined by Sydney. It was great to have a young and female perspective.
Transcript
Eric:
Hello and welcome to the Q lounge, I'm Eric
Gil:and I'm Gil.
Eric:join us as we discuss news stories and life situations, as they relate to the LGBTQIA plus experience, please visit us at theQloungepodcast.com and hit that subscribe button or listen wherever you get your podcasts. If you would like to follow us on social media, you can hit us up on Facebook @theQloungepodcast or on Instagram or Twitter @theQlounge. Hello, and thank you for joining us in The Q Lounge. I'm Eric and
Gil:I'm Gil.
Eric:And today we are honored and overjoyed to be joined by Sydney. How are you doing?
Sydney:I'm doing good. How
Eric:are you? I'm doing well. Thank you. So a little kind of history. We did Gil and I are guests on. Podcast, which is your stepdad, I believe, right? Yeah. That's right. And yeah. So if our listeners go check out Papa Geoff's America, it's a great podcast and check out our interview that we did with him as well. It was really great. And we had a lot of fun with it. So we're super glad you could join us The Q Lounge, we've been looking forward to this for a while. Cause I know we've been planning it for a little bit, so I'm glad that we finally were able to make this happen. So how is life treating you in this COVID kind of world?
Sydney:I just started college, which is pretty cool. That's
Eric:what you got you're in law school, right?
Sydney:No, I was actually planning to go to university of Houston, but because of some other things I've switched to lone star and I've actually switched my major from being a lawyer to human services. Awesome.
Eric:Okay. That's fantastic.
Sydney:Yes. Instead of going to university of Houston, I'm actually going to lone star the community college, and I'm actually going with my best friend. So it's actually cool. We're getting the experience our first semester in college together.
Gil:Awesome. I love that. Remember Eric many moons ago?
Eric:Yes. I remember many moons ago before both of you were born and I was starting college. As all my gray demonstrates the listeners can't see it, but I'm always talking about my gray. So how is life in this COVID kind of world?
Sydney:It's been rough the last year spending, every day with my family, but now that covid was getting better in the summer. We actually got to go back to Reno and visit with family. So that was fun.
Eric:Oh, that's awesome. So you're originally from.
Sydney:Yeah, I was born and raised in Reno and we moved to Texas about two or three years ago. And
Eric:how was that move? Was that kind of like a culture shock or was it pretty smooth?
Sydney:It was a culture. Not super bad, but it was easier for me because I brought my best friend at the time with us and she stayed with us for a few months. So it was easier for me to adjust, but yeah, it was weird because people here, they don't answer with yeah. Or no. It's yes. Ma'am. Yes, sir. No, ma'am no. Okay. And so that was weird at first. And just like the teachers also at the school did not care as much in Reno as they didn't Reno and Reno, they were like super respectful and stuff here. They would curse you out. No hesitation. That's just cause I went to a ghetto school, but.
Gil:It is different down there from the west coast. So I have a bias.
Eric:How is Texas right now? Cause I know we w we have all of our, prejudices. I'm just going to say because of everything we hear, but how was life actually in Texas?
Sydney:It's not too bad. Like the weather sucks obviously, but. It's not too bad, as long as like the right people, like as long as you have good people around, but there are some people here. My, the best friend I was telling you about she's Hispanic and she was working waitress job, and she got cussed out called the beaner, all that kind of stuff. Nobody has an accent here though. Like they talk about that a lot. Oh, you're going to meet people who have like huge Southern accents. I think I've maybe met one or two people who have Southern accents otherwise.
Gil:Nothing. Oh, wow.
Eric:I've only been to parts of Texas. I've been to El Paso cause I've actually been to El Paso a few times. Cause one of my best friends lives out there. Which I'm always held up at the border when I'm coming back and I've been detained at that border too. I've been to El Paso a few times and then I've been to Killeen. And then others it's. I want to say it's north of Dallas Fort worth area. It's in that area. Okay. It was a very quick trip. And then I've been to the Dallas airport and I've been to the Houston airport and that's like my whole that's my whole Texas experience.
Gil:I've been to Dallas a few times. I'm stuck there also for an airport situation, but I flow. I've gone in for a football
Eric:game. Was it another detainment?
Gil:Not
Eric:this time around. And I seem to get heavily questioned and checked thoroughly at TSA. Most of the time.
Gil:Okay. So Sydney question. When did you realize you were part of the LGBTQ
Sydney:community? Probably. I want to say my freshman year of high school. I kinda realized it it, I never really was huge on boys. So when I got to high school and I met a girl and I was like, oh, damn, that's she's really pretty. So that's kinda when I got into it. And I realized later that year that I liked to girls too.
Eric:And how was it for you to come out or what was it like? Or was there a problem?
Sydney:So there wasn't really a process, but my family was super accepting. The story of how I came out is I had left my messenger open on my grandma's phone while I went to school. Cause my phone was broken and her and my sister, when they picked me up from school, went through my messages. And they saw me talking about this girl. So we went to a restaurant, a Sizzler is in the three of us are sitting down, we're eating and they look me in the eyes and they go, it's okay if you're gay. And so I always joke that they forced me out in the middle of the Sizzlers. And then, so that was fun. And then we went home and I texted my mom. I think this is maybe the second time I had met my dad and this was a Saturday and the next morning we were going to church with him. So I came out that night and I texted them in the group chat that we had. I was like, Hey I think I'm gay. And they were super accepting of it. And my entire family has been, they've actually been like when I'm like, oh yeah, I'm, I came out as BI first, but now I identify more as pan and ASE. So when I tell them they're like, nobody is surprised. We knew everybody knew.
Eric:I love that. I'm so glad that they're accepting. That's beautiful. That makes me happy. Cause we, at least I want to say we hear a lot about all like the heart hard coming out stories, Gil and I were actually talking about this and one of our last few episodes that in our interviews make most of the people we've met have had really great coming out stories. So I'm glad that trend is still.
Sydney:It is nice. I was really worried about it, especially coming out to my stepdad. Cause like I said, this is maybe my second time meeting him. And it was the night before we went to his church that he went to. So I was really afraid that he was going to be, Upset or something. He's actually been one of the biggest supporters of it. And he only knew me for a couple of weeks at that point. And so that was really nice. I was super nervous about it.
Eric:Oh, I love that. That's super awesome. Yeah. Did you have any personal struggles with coming out or.
Sydney:A little bit, I was just nervous because my family never really talked about that kind of stuff. We never said anything bad about it. It just wasn't something that was in my household. And when I was coming out, I had heard a lot of stories about like people taking out their kids or the selling them, or sending them to like conversion camps. So I was super, super nervous. When they were like, it's okay to be gay right in the middle of the Sizzler is that kinda disappeared.
Eric:That's amazing. I love that. that makes me. I'm still smiling. That's great. Did you have any internalized homophobia or demons that you have had to face or that you still struggle? Has it been pretty smooth sailing?
Sydney:It's been pretty smooth sailing for me. There's been a little bit just especially when I first came out of the internalized homophobia. So when I first realized it, I was in my freshman year. By the time I actually came out to my family, I was closer to the middle of my sophomore year. It was hard for me because like I said, we never really talked about that stuff. So I wasn't really aware that you could like a girl. So for me, it was hard to first understand that, then be able to tell,
Gil:yeah. How was the experience in high school or you out in high school?
Sydney:I was out like, if somebody asked me about it, I would tell them however, like I wasn't, super, I never dated anybody in high school, anything like that. If somebody asked me, I tell them the truth, but otherwise I was just didn't really matter to me either way.
Gil:Okay. We're always curious because you're probably our youngest guests that we've had on here. And you are, you're fresh from out of high school. You're entering the new college experience and like us we're, we're years removed from that scene. So it's always curious. It's like, how have we improved since. For me, the early millennial
Eric:and for me, like the turn of the century hundreds,
Gil:that's good. Because half your time right. Was in Reno and then the other half was in.
Sydney:Yeah. And Houston. Yeah.
Eric:Houston. Okay. And Houston's a pretty big city though. So they're pretty progressive. Aren't
Sydney:they? Yeah, they are. The reason I wasn't out in high school is just cause I wasn't. I just didn't really care about that kind of stuff, but we, a lot of people were open, we had LGBTQ clubs and stuff like that oh, that's awesome. He really had a problem with it. It was just my personal thing of I didn't feel the need to share with everybody. Okay.
Gil:It makes sense. I guess for me, it was the same reason. There was no need to come out of high school because I had nobody. So it was like,
Sydney:If somebody asks, I tell them otherwise it was like, I don't know you, what do you want?
Eric:Yeah, no, I've definitely been there too. I've been on both sides where I have so much internalized homophobia that I was like, no, I'm not gay at all. And even though I'm like, totally the poster child of to the point. And then also to the point I'm just going to tell everybody 'cause even when Gil and I first met, he asked me and I was like why do you want, yeah,
Gil:I remember. I was like, oh my gosh, I knew the answer, but it was still like, oh,
Eric:which that in itself was the answer.
Gil:You throw your hands up. You're like, I can't have this. I'm like, oh, okay.
Eric:Yeah. And then I went through the same thing where where I was. Deny it if people ask me, I'd be like, yeah, of course. Like, why is that even a question? But then I had other people are like, I'm not going to tell you, I'm not going to tell you. And then it was actually. I guess I'm going to say, I don't want to say too recently, but I came out later in life. So it was definitely like a back and forth Seesaw thing with me.
Sydney:Yeah. I get that. The trying to keep it from some family members. I didn't want to tell my aunt because her family is super Republican. And so I was worried about that. She found out the it's another story of fun. My birth dad had actually. Abandoned me and my sister for two years, hadn't talked to us or whatever. And she called my mom on Easter. I was like, I want to see my daughters. The reason why I was so harsh on your family was because I was afraid Sydney was going to end up 16 and pregnant. And my mom went well, she's a lesbian, so fuck you. And that's the second time it was somebody in my family, out in me for me. And then she told my aunt and I gave her permission. I was super nervous about it, but she told my aunt that story. And that's by far her favorite story to tell about me. And she was like, she's yeah, the time I told him his birth dad, that she's a lesbian, so she couldn't end up 16 and pregnant.
Gil:Yeah, I love it. That's one way to prevent that
Eric:we had another guest who was, like, she said, like her parents were, her mom was super happy that she knew she wasn't going to be 16 and pregnant.
Sydney:Yeah. My grandma was so happy. She was like, she's even happier when I came out as she was like, she's not, it means nothing. And I'm like, yeah. She's oh, thank God. And I'm like, thank you, mama. Thanks.
Gil:Hey, Eric, correct me if I'm wrong. Is she our first guest whose, who identifies as ASE as well?
Eric:I believe so. Yes.
Gil:Welcome. We have, if for some of our listeners, are you able to educate us a little bit more on. Yeah. So
Sydney:yeah. So ASE is the long. One is asexual. Basically it's a spectrum is so it means I feel very for myself, I feel very little to no sexual attraction. So when like picking partners and stuff, I don't feel that same sexual attraction. Mine's more romantic, more based on others. And for myself personally, I've never felt the desire to jump in the sheets with somebody. So that's just personally for me. And there's a huge spectrum of it. Some people only feel it during these exact situations. Some people don't feel it at all. And for myself, it's, I just feel very little to none. So I don't act on it.
Gil:Okay. That's awesome. It's so awesome. Because see, like you, I, you already know it within yourself and it's not like you're fighting it or anything of that. Yeah. That's pretty cool. Okay. So I have a question also for within I always ask this and I'm always curious, do you have a musical diva for yourself? Oh, what a musical diva, or would it be king or a artists that you look up to where you're like, oh my God, I just a favorite artist.
Sydney:Not really. I don't really have a favorite artist. listened to everything and everybody all the time. So
Eric:what's on your playlist?
Sydney:I have a lot of musicals. I have a lot of like songs from different musicals. I have a lot of like mother on my playlist. A lot of pop music. So a lot of pop music mother in Hamilton, and Hades town.
Eric:Have you ever been pigeonholed into any stereotypes or has, have you, do you feel like you fit any stereotypes?
Sydney:I've definitely been pigeonholed. So a boy that I met here he, we, he was like, oh yeah, I think you're the perfect girl. And I would totally date you except your asexual.
Gil:Yeah,
Sydney:And I get where he's coming from, but it was still he's oh yeah, you're pretty, you're perfect. You're smart. I would totally love to date you except, you're ASE, so that's not really gonna work for me. And then there's just the stereotype of is the same thing as they are romantic. So I obviously don't want to date anybody, which isn't true. And I think I, I don't really think I fit me stereotypes. I don't know a lot of stereotypes that I don't think I fit in any of them.
Gil:That's fair. Yeah. What's your opinion on allyship and what makes a good ally?
Sydney:I think that allyship is really important and I, what makes a good ally is like, Standing up for your standing up for your friend who is, part of the community. And it's also not being afraid to stand up for those weeks, even when that person isn't nearby. So if you have a trans friend contending to call them by their preferred pronoun, even when they're out of the room or if somebody is talking bad about it and they ask you for your opinion, not changing your opinion, just because you're in a room that they may not accept.
Eric:Yeah, I agree. What do you think of the, what do you think of the importance of pronouns since you've mentioned pronouns?
Sydney:I think they're very important. I think they're very important and I don't think it's very hard to use people's preferred pronouns. Like it can be a little confusing and for myself, I may need to be reminded a few times, but if that's what they prefer to be called, prefer to be used, then you should use.
Eric:Yeah, I agree. What do you think about how am I trying to say this? I guess I'll just give examples. I have, I've had a couple of friends actually reach out to me about pronouns because they've approached other people asking them what their preferred pronouns are. And some of them have been met with hostility. Where people were offended that they were asking, they were being asked what their preferred pronouns were. And so a few friends of mine are like, I don't know how to deal with that. I thought I was being respectful. I was wanting to be respectful and put on a line of respect and all this other stuff. And most people, I know if someone came up to me and asked me preferred pronouns, I would be like, happy that they asked me. So I'm just what's your take on that?
Sydney:I think you should still ask, even if you're met with hostility, but it's a losing coin either way, because either you're going to ask and you're going to be met with hostility, or you're not going to ask and you're going to. Hurt someone's feelings or something like that. Cause you didn't ask them and you can't always tell like a masculine people may prefer to be called she hers. So I think it's better to ask and people who get offended are just afraid because they may not understand it fully.
Gil:What is your opinion on pride? And do you still feel it's relevant or important
Sydney:completely? I think it's, I think it's really important to celebrate where we came from before and to honor people who gave their lives or. Did all of this so that we could openly be happy and be proud about it. I think it's still totally relevant. It should still be celebrated because it's a part of our history.
Eric:What do you think about the commercialization of it in recent years?
Sydney:That's hard cause like everything's going to be commercialized to a point. And I think some of it's bad. I think it's gotten a little out of hand because now companies don't care about pride for. The entire year, but suddenly for one month, they're like, all right, we're total. We totally love all the gays. All right. It's July 1st, pack it up.
Gil:So true.
Eric:I'm always like, I don't, I think it's very necessary and I agree with everything you said on why it's necessary. It's just always weird for me though, because I remember growing up and even Up until like my thirties maybe late twenties. I don't want to say I'm that old, but I remember like you, you didn't tell people you were going to the pride parade or to the pride festivities is you're just like, what are you doing this weekend? I don't know, I'm staying home because if you were like, oh, I'm going to pride, people, like, why are you going to pride, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And they start like calling you different epithets and everything else. And Then now, like all of a sudden, like I hear it advertised on the radio oh, it's pride weekend and get your tickets. And such-and-such DJ is going to be here and this is happening. I'm like, whoa, like when did it become like a celebrated event? Like I'm super happy that it is. But it's just it still throws me off a little bit. Cause I remember when it wasn't like this and you like, wouldn't tell people that oh yeah, I'm going to the pride parade or yeah. I went to Denver pride this year and they're like, why did you go out of town for that? You know what they're going to say about you? And I'm like, huh. So I'm like that. I'm, like I said, I'm super happy that it's celebrated and everything else. And yeah, and I also do agree with the point that like it's July 1st pack it up. Like we don't care anymore.
Gil:It really is all love. Stuff's on clearance. That's what I buy everything so terrible
Sydney:for next year. So
Gil:every year it gets bigger and bigger, especially since you're in San Francisco, they've canceled it the last two years due to the pandemic. So when we do celebrate the 50 plus two, now it's going to look really nice. It's not going to have a bunch of crap ready to go.
Eric:I will definitely make sure I'm there.
Gil:Yes, next year will be the big one that we should've had two years ago. I know
Sydney:it's worth it.
Gil:It's worth it.
Eric:Hey, Janet Jackson always said I'll be worth the wait. So
Gil:if you don't know, Eric likes Janet Little. So in your opinion What ways can we do better as a community because you have a much fresher eyes, us, we're more jaded. We've seen everything under the sun, but in your opinion, how do you feel that? Especially since you're part of gen Z, how do we move forward? Even more with our, the gay agenda?
Sydney:We're going forward with the gay agenda. I think that we continue to be proud and stuff, and we don't back down. Like even when people get upset Y especially about like TV shows and stuff like that. Why do they need to have a gay character gay cartoon character? Why did they need to have a straight cartoon character? So I think we need to move forward with that. And I know people say oh, it might be easier for others to accept it. If you were to back down or back off a little bit. However, I think that by backing down, it's that if you give them an inch, they'll take a mile. So I think going forward, we continue with that. We try and be, but we try and still be respectful of people's opinions or like different like religious practices and stuff. So I think we need to be careful about like that, but not give up what we want to move forward with. Yeah. Sorry. That sounded confusing.
Eric:I think representation is super important. Yeah. And like you were saying, like, why do they have to have a gay character? What, why do they have to have a straight character then people I've heard people even just recently I don't think there should be labels. We shouldn't be labeling gay people. We shouldn't be labeling lesbian people or whatever else. Yeah, I understand that. Like we're all people and it should just be that, but it's not just that. That concept is beautiful and it's great that's where you think the world should be. And I agree, but it's not there. So by you saying that, like, why do we have to have this and why does it have to be labeled? Because that's how it is in the world. And we need that representation so that we can move forward. So people have someone to identify with. Yeah.
Sydney:I think even moving forward, like it's like the, oh, we shouldn't have labels. Okay. That still doesn't change that it is a straight couple in this movie. You can not label it, but that doesn't change it. That doesn't change the fact that there aren't a lot of good gay movies or lesbian movies or anything like that. It doesn't change the fact that there's not good representation. Yeah.
Eric:How do you watch a lot of LGBTQ movies?
Sydney:I try to like on Hulu, Netflix, that kind of stuff. I tried to. I watched them with my best friend because we love to laugh at the horrible gay jokes. So we try and go through it, but it's just, it's hard with they have a lot of stereotypes or just my life is so hard. I have a perfect life, but I have a secret that nobody knows. I'm gay and then it's just like there. That was exactly. That was exactly the movie I was thinking.
Eric:I'm like totally right now in a Creekwood state of mind. So I like watched love Simon, like two or three nights ago. And then I like watched all of season one Love, Victor. Now I'm on season two, like halfway through season two,
Sydney:we watched me and my friend watched that together. I obviously, I'm not going to spoil it for you, but we couldn't. It, the first season killed us. We were like really Victor, you really gonna put us out here like this is really how you're going to represent all of us. Okay, Victor, we did that. And we joked about the dress code because none of those girls were following dress code, not a single one in that school. We while watching it, we just yell out. Her shorts are too short. She has a tank top on me, completely get
Gil:distracted. We've been removed for many years. Is the dress code again?
Sydney:It's Ridiculous is really what it is, but it's fun to pick fun out on. Yeah.
Eric:How important do you think LGBTQ cinema is for the community?
Sydney:I think it's really important. I think that everybody should be able to find somebody that they resonate with on shows and TV, because you're going to have people you look up to. And I think it's really important that every kid has that. And I think it'd also be helpful for kids to figure out who they are younger. Cause they'll realize that, oh, it's accepted. Oh, it's normal. I'm not. I'm not, wrong. So I think it's really important for kids, especially that young, to be able to see it. And so they can realize who they are sooner.
Gil:Yeah. Yeah.
Eric:I also really liked that a lot of celebrities are now acknowledging that side of them. Living their truths and their authenticity, like Lil NAS X. He actually just did a really awesome cover of Jolene to party. Really. Yeah. And then like Demi Lovato and stuff like that. So I, I appreciate them. Living in that authentic part of themselves and no longer shielding it. So people like Sydney was saying can find someone that they resonate with and connect with. So I think that's really awesome and important.
Gil:What hope do you have for yourself? Cause we always ask everyone, what would you advise for your younger self? What do you want to be, or what do you hope your future would look.
Sydney:I hope my future will look like getting to work in social services. I hope to be able to help kids out of a bad situation. Cause that's why I wanted to be a lawyer in the first place is to help people. So I feel like I'll actually be able to make a difference as a social worker. And I would tell my younger self just to keep it. It sucks. School kind of sucks. Life kind of sucks, but she'll be fine. As long as you keep pushing, you'll eventually get to a place where you have people you do really care about you have a future you care about and you'll be able to find the hope to keep pushing forward.
Eric:Yeah, absolutely. What have what have been some of your greatest experiences?
Sydney:Like in the community or just in general,
Eric:both actually either or both.
Sydney:So within the community some of my greatest experiences were like meeting other people after moving to Texas I met a lot of people who were in the community itself by I was able to, bond with. And so that was really cool. And of course there are some bad experiences with that too. At the school, the Christian club tried to shut down the gay club. Oh, wow. It didn't work. And they got beat up, but who got beat up the Christian club? I felt bad, but.
Eric:I don't condone violence and violence is never the answer, but I'm going to smile and laugh about that anyway. So
Gil:if it happens,
Eric:I guess God didn't
Sydney:protect them. It'd be like that sometimes. I don't know, man, but, so that was kinda, that was weird. Cause that was right after I moved to Texas too. Right after we started the school year. So that was weird of some other good experiences there, like getting into college. First, I got into Houston and then I got the lone star, which was really fun. And then lone star another bad experience was I got one point off on the placement exam. So they made me retake it and pay $40 for it. Cause I got one point off. And that was the third day I had to come in. Cause the day before that they put in my math scores it was supposed to say like 3 43, they just put in 43. And the advisor that was looking at my paper, she's like 43. That's not a math score. You get 43 points for putting your name. So that kinda sucked. And then that'll happen in rapid succession, so that, and then I turned 18, like a week later, and then two weeks after that I was actually the one to receive the call that my birth dad had passed. And then. It's okay. That's a whole nother, that's a whole story, but so there was that. And then of course, doing, this is really fun, but, so yeah, it's been a very eventful month. Oh, that's
Eric:awesome. Glad to hear that. Did you guys see the movie geography club?
Sydney:No. What
Eric:is it? It's an LGBTQ movie. It's a high school movie. And basically they have. Their LGBTQ club, but they call it geography club because it's like a, it takes place in Texas, I believe. And it's like a very like Christian school. I don't know that it's an actual Christian school, but that's heavily on their beliefs. And so they have to keep it on the down low that they have an actual gay Alliance. Did you hear about what happened in Irvine, Texas by chance with the one openly LGBTQ teacher getting fired and the students walking out in mass protest.
Sydney:No what
Eric:happened? So I guess they ha she is a lesbian and she's very out since she's the only faculty member that is or was out. And she was also the sponsor for the gay and lesbian Alliance club. And they have a whole bunch of signs that said like safe space and all this other stuff. The school decided they were gonna go through and they took all those signs down and they called in a bunch of students and talk to them and then they escorted her out and let her go because they said that she was taking, she was using this club to push her agenda on the student. And they were trying to get her by saying that she was asking the students to confide in her so she could use it against them when actually they were just like talking freely about things that they needed other people to talk with, but they had no one to talk to. So they were, that's why they were a part of that club. And so they could have people identify with, but I guess a bunch of people, a bunch of the students walked out and like mass protest.
Sydney:I didn't either. It's read that the new of course the news when it covered, but still it's weird that it's weird. That story didn't get a lot of attention.
Eric:Yeah. I thought so too. I just happened to come by it. I have a lot of LGBTQ stories that come across my desk just because I like, but I have to go search for them too. Like I have to. Subscribe, so that they'll come over my desk, I don't really have a desk that they come over.
Gil:The secretary drops it off every morning
Eric:and reads them to me because I don't read.
Gil:The algorithm hasn't figured you out here, Eric, let's say Tik TOK found out very quickly.
Sydney:It took less than two days.
Eric:I can't remember. I'm rarely on Tik TOK, but all I get is Pole dancing and sexy dancing. I think that's pretty much all I get across my Tik Tok. I think it's cause I was like all into that red light challenge for a minute and then like just watching a bunch of pole dancers. So that's all I get on my Tik Toks typically.
Sydney:I actually just, I don't know since, I don't know if either of you would know what a, this Tik Tok is, but I just got out of berries and cream tick. It's awful. I hate it so much and I just escaped. So it's just the remix. So many different song remix of this one guy, just singing berries and cream and talking about the little lot dance and. I was on it for a week and I lost my mind.
Eric:I don't know if I should go check it out or just the warning and stay away.
Gil:It's the devil. It sucks your time because the first you started with one little video and then you like it, it also suggest board. It's oh my God, six hours later.
Sydney:Yeah. I'll check it when I first wake up, I'm like, oh, I'll just check a few messages. Like I'll send, I'll see what my friends sent me. Just scroll through a few. Oh my God. It's 10. O'clock.
Eric:I will say, so I don't, I haven't spent that much time on Tik TOK. Like for me, you spending a lot of time on Tik Tok is like five minutes, but I am also the person who like, I'll wake up at seven 30 or eight o'clock and I need like another 30 to 40 minutes to actually just check my social media and play on my phone for a while. And then I'm like, okay, now I'm ready to get up. Even though I'm just supposed to be at work three hours ago, but.
Gil:Do you have anything going on right now for you in your spare time? Not
Sydney:really. No school is taking up pretty much all of my life. It sucks being a full time student, but. Yeah, we're doing our best.
Eric:That's all you can do. What kind of courses are you
Sydney:taking? Right now I'm taking government, a government class, an English class a freshmen class that I'm forced to take. And at the end of October, I'll be starting a music theory class. I'm excited for that one. And I'm excited. Cause by then hopefully this freshmen class will be over and I'm so ready for it to be over. She called me three times in two days and kept me on the phone for three hours, going over how to do a project in detail.
Eric:You got to love the United States school system and having to take all these classes that you don't really need for your major.
Sydney:Yeah. My class actually say our English teacher and the a five minute break. He just, he was like, I need five minutes because we can't read cursive. He wrote something in cursive on the board and there's 20 of us in the class. Not a single one of us could read it. And he was like, they don't teach you cursive. And I'm like the last time I remember being taught cursive was in the fourth grade and they didn't further my, they didn't further my education with it because I sucked at it. So he's I just need a minute. You can't read cursive.
Eric:I feel so old. We learned it in third grade, but we like, and fourth grade, like it carried over. Can we ask to use it? We used to have to practice the letters. Exactly. Write them out exactly the way they looked on the printed page. Correct. And then like when I got into high school, we could blend print and cursive together. And then we came up with our own, you come up with your own sloppy style and I write in chicken scratch now. But I remember having to perfect that G with the little hoop and the point.
Gil:Yeah, it looks like the general mills logo.
Sydney:They made us do it for a month in fourth grade. And if you were good at it, they had set a time. They'd set, like writing time aside for you to go on and do it. And if you work though, it like I was, cause I've always had chicken scratch handwriting. They were just like, all right, you're just going to work on regular writing. They're going to go work on cursive. And I was like, okay. But, so he wrote it on the board and he was like, what is this a good thesis? And we all just sat there and he's is it? And we're looking at each other and we're like I don't know. And so one girl finally raises her hand. She's I can't read it. And then, we're all like, yeah, we can't, we don't know. Are you kidding me? No, we, I don't know. And he's what do you think it says? And it was something about European cars are better than American cars. And we were like cares is up there. We think that care's up there. Maybe something about Europe at all,
Eric:but they don't really focus on cursive now because we type everything also. So
Sydney:yeah. But S I could never write an essay to save my life. And, that's important being the first letter in my name. I couldn't write it. And they were just like, all right, you're done. I was one of the first kids they decided that could not write cursive and it was going to the other side of the room. Oh, wow.
Eric:The capital S and the ampersand almost look the same. They're just reversed.
Gil:Yeah.
Sydney:I can write that either.
Gil:We're showing our age now, Eric,
Eric:any lessons learned?
Sydney:That sometimes I do need to watch my mouth especially like. Thank you for your support.
Eric:I have like truckers mouth,
Sydney:the cussing isn't what gets me in trouble. It's when we're downstairs and we get into like political talk and my sister's I think we need to respect both sides. And I'm like I think you can shove it up your ass dinner table. My stepdad, who I call my dad. He loves it. He lives for it. He will purposely throw fire on it. Just to see me, my sister go after each other, like that, have to do dinner theater every damn night.
Gil:That's great.
Eric:Prior to. Five years ago. So prior to five years ago, I was very much like the whole like respectful sides, blah blah. Like you have to like, look at it this way. Stay neutral. There's good and bad on both sides. And I just deal with feeling there's good and bad on both sides, but one side is definitely more inherently evil than the other. So I guess probably about five years ago now, four and a half, five years ago. I became super politically charged. And now I'm like, no, I am not going to respect that side because they are doing this, and this to marginalized groups and to this people and these people and to this right. And that and so then, yeah, I think I would probably lean on your side of agreement. So
yeah,
Gil:I think it was a good thing about, the one good thing about Trump is that he definitely pushed a group of people who are normally politically. It was a neutral on everything or apathetic to a degree into a corner either they got on board or they did it because even Chris, my husband, who would not register to vote to save his life, and I'm a political science major, I was like, how could you not register with me? And he did, when he was like, how the hell do we get him out of office? What did we do? I'm registering. We can't have him in office. And I'm like, oh, this is the best day of my life.
Eric:Now I will say is like neutral and nonpolitical as I used to be. I've always voted like as soon as I turned 1800. Yeah. Yes.
Gil:I made it a whole theater. When I turned 18 to vote. I was so excited. It was was a John Kerry was running against Bush.
Eric:I will, so we're going to give homeboy 45, 2 pluses then. Cause they're giving him the plus that he made apathetic people actually go and vote. I give him the, I don't want to say the props. I don't know how to say it. He helped expose how racist and hateful this country really is. So that's something. I don't know if that's really a good thing. Yeah.
Sydney:That's my favorite part of what happened with him, but it
Gil:SNL was on fire.
Eric:I'm sure. Alec Baldwin could totally retire and like never have to even think about working again.
Gil:So true because no offense, I love Obama, but the Obama years during SNL were so boring, they were not as entertaining was
Eric:all we had was a tan suit. It was controversial. I was like, oh my
Gil:God. He who shall not be named
Eric:tan suit and that Michelle showed her
Gil:arms. Oh, God forbid. Those were the days.
Sydney:Obviously. I don't remember a lot of that. Cause I was, by the time Trump got voted to the office, I was about 13. So I don't remember I don't remember a lot of that, but definitely after he was voted in I definitely became. Political one in our household. And my family has always voted Democrat, but I'm like, I'm very far left and I'm like, no, I don't care. I don't care about if there's good people on both sides, they still did this. They still have, they still did this. And I'm not changing on that. But obviously
Gil:I
Eric:don't remember. Are there good people on the Republican side right now?
Sydney:Maybe definitely on the lower there are some like people here I know that are like lower Republican, that aren't too bad, but the second they put a don't tread on me flag or a Confederate outside their yard. I, Nope, I don't care. I do not care what they have to say to.
Eric:Yeah. Yeah. I'm super like left of liberal for 99.8, 7% percent of all causes. Bernie Sanders wasn't president, same
Sydney:is so we settled for Biden.
Eric:Yeah. And he's making me mad right now too, but we won't go into that.
Sydney:That's probably one of my biggest achievements is I've got my dad and my mom to lean a lot more left with they have like my soap box, but Proudly. Oh, I do. We'll go out to like water burger and they'll say something and I'll, start talking loudly in the middle of the water burger and they're like, oh, I didn't realize it traveled.
Gil:I
Eric:love that you gotta be passionate about your either your beliefs.
Sydney:Yeah. For, since we moved to Texas they, my nicknames are, I have a nickname of the social justice warrior and they constantly make jokes about my soap box. When we went to Reno, they're like, are you sure it's going to be able to fit in your bag with you or. And I'm like, joke's on you. It has its own seat on the plane.
Gil:Oh, I love
Eric:it. That's so great. And I'm so happy that you are, that we need it assertive and proud and. Passionate and have the ability to do that. Like I applaud you for that. That's awesome. So that gives me hope. Like I Gil and I talk about like the younger generation or your generation and the generation after you. How you guys are the ones that are going to really change this world because you see all the fuck ups that we've done in the generation before us did. And it's sad that it's all on your guys' shoulders, but at least you're like, yeah, we're not putting up with this bullshit anymore. Fuck this. We are moving into a progressive world and we are going to do what's right for this country. And what's right for humanity in general.
Sydney:Correct. I always lead the saying this with, I love you dad, but I'm always like the country will be better off when all the old white men die. And I always leave that with, I love you, dad,
Gil:listeners, if you can see Eric's reaction, this is just wonderful.
Eric:I'm like silent.
Gil:Fila laughing.
Eric:Oh my God. That was so good. I need a cigarette and I don't even smoke. I think my eyes rolled back and my toes curled on that one. That was so good. Wow. I'm a hot now.
Sydney:And that was just a short excerpt of what happens at dinner theater at my mom's do we have to do this every damn night?
Gil:You're one of these days, one of these nights
Eric:put us on FaceTime. We'll be right there with,
Gil:oh my goodness. any last thoughts.
Sydney:Thank you for having me. It was really fun to be on here.
Eric:Awesome. Thank you so much. We're really glad that you were able to make time to come on and thank you for spending this hour with us. Hopefully it didn't take away too much from your. And thank you to all the listeners and thank you to everybody else. So we'll see you or we won't see you, but we'll
Gil:say that
Eric:we'll be around next week,
Gil:everyone. Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed your time in The Q Lounge. If you have any comments, questions, suggestions on topics, or if you would like to be a guest or contributor, please email us at info.theqlounge@gmail.com or through our contact page at TheQLoungepodcast.com while you're there hit that subscribe button or listen wherever you get your podcasts. If you would like to further support us, hit that donation button
Eric:until next time live in your authenticity.
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